Sufferings on way home
Rains, tailback on highways add to homegoers� woes
Tailbacks on highways, traffic jams at ferry terminals and water logging on the streets of the capital due to rains are all causing sufferings to people travelling to their homes across the country for the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
Severe gridlock caused by heavy rainfall and potholes on roads, spoilt the mood of homebound passengers on different routes, just before Eid-ul-Fitr.
Thousands of homebound passengers were seen at Sadarghat Launch Terminal and Kamalapur Railway Station since early morning.
Long tailbacks were reported on Dhaka-Mymensing, Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Chittagong highways since morning. Our correspondent from Tangail reported that huge traffic congestion on Dhaka-Tangail Highway was causing immense suffering to the homebound passengers.
The congestion started from Chandra Intersection to Elenga Intersection from 10 am. Police desperately tried to ease the congestion and the situation eased a little in the afternoon. A passenger, Noman, told the Independent that he left Dhaka at 11 am for Madhupur and reached Tangail at 5 pm.
It is learnt that the all Dhaka bound transportation moved very slowly. But Tangail and North Bengal bound buses were stranded for long time
On the other hand, heavy monsoon showers lashed the capital yesterday causing immense miseries to city dwellers as well as those travelling to homes in districts to celebrate the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.
As it was a public holiday, a large number of people left the capital yesterday by buses, trains and launches. But many of them had difficulty finding a transport to travel to railway stations, inter-district bus stands and launch terminals due to the incessant rain. Passengers said reaching the Kamalapur Railway Station on time became a challenge as many of the city streets around the station became submerged in rainwater.
Officials at different bus counters in the city and Kamalapur Railway Station said the passengers faced difficulties to reach their respective rail stations and bus counters in time due to the heavy shower.
Passengers are reaching the counter almost in scheduled time braving the heavy shower, counter master of Hanif Paribahans Kallyanpur counter Masudur Rahman said. He, however, noted that although buses left the city on time, the return trips will be delayed due to the heavy rainfall.
To add to the woes, a number of CNG-run-auto rickshaws became out-of-order on several city streets due to the inundation, leading to sufferings for the passengers.
People in many areas waded through waterlogged streets as water stagnation was reported from Pallabi bus stand, Kazipara, Shanitanagar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Rajarbagh, Merul Badda, Maidhya Badda, near Rampura bridge, Gulapsha Mazar, Victoria Park to Sadarghat, Mohakhali, New Airport Road areas. Knee deep water was a common sight in most alleys and lanes.
The rain that began in the morning flooded many of the city streets. According to the Met Office, 62 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in the capital from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm yesterday.
Meanwhile, a 25-km tailback was created on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Daudkandi area on Wednesday as a vehicle went out of order on the Meghna-Gomti Bridge, causing sufferings for the eid home-goers.
Traffic movement from Hasanpur of Daudkandi to Gazaria of Munshiganj turned to a snails pace due to the gridlock that continued till writing of the report yesterday afternoon.
Officer In-charge of Daudkandi Highway Police Station Zobaidul Alam said the tailback was created after a tyre of a truck got punctured on the Meghna-Gomti Bridge in the morning, disrupting the normal movement of vehicles. Highway police are working to ease the traffic jam, he said.
Although the truck was removed from the spot, huge pressure of vehicles ahead of the Eid intensified the gridlock with hundreds of vehicles stranded on the highway.
Kama Hossain, the driver of a Dhaka-Laxmipur route bus, said it took him seven hours to reach Comilla from Dhaka, which takes just two and a half hours on a regular day.
Meanwhile, severe traffic jam at the Paturia and Daulatdia ferry terminals caused difficulty for the passengers travelling between the capital and South and South-Western districts yesterday. A similar situation was prevailing on the Mawa Kawrakandi ferry route.
The road communication between the 21 districts of the region and the capital, largely dependent on the Paturia-Daulatdia ferry service, is being seriously hampered as the water levels of the River Padma is increasing fast and also due to the shortage of necessary ferries.
Several hundred vehicles, including passenger coaches, cars and lorries remained stranded for hours at Paturia in Manikganj and Daulatdia in Rajbari as the rising river water and high current slowed down ferry movement.
Manager (commerce) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Aricha Terminal Mohiuddin Rasel told the Independent that a sudden sharp rise in the water levels on the River Padma created disruption in smooth movement of ferries between Paturia and Daulatdia.
Ferries are taking almost double the normal travel time due to heavy currents. The current is getting stronger as the water level on the Padma River continues to rise, he said. A ferry now takes 45 to 50 minutes instead of the regular 30-35 minutes to move from Paturia to Daulatdia, he added.
The rise is water level also partially submerges pontoons, posing hazard and a slower pace of loading and unloading of vehicles from the ferries at Patuaria.
Md. Salauddin Ahamed, Manager (Com.) of BIWTC of Aricha sector told the Independent that they kept ready nine roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferries, five utility ferries and three K-type
ferries in the Aricha sector on Paturia-Daulatdia route ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr to keep ferry
services normal. But the traffic jam yesterday was created especially because a large number of people were travelling to their homes to celebrate Eid with their families, he added.
